Competitions – for young musicians they are door openers and training camps in a highly competitive business. In Bad Tölz, the top string quartet talents are now gathering for an international competition for the first time. From April 16th to 20th, nine ensembles will face a top-class jury in the Gabriel von Seidl concert hall of the Kurhaus, which will be headed by Günter Pichler, the founder and longtime leader of the Alban Berg Quartet.
Whether it was the expertise of the prominent jury or the prize money totaling 27,000 euros, 34 string quartets from all over the world applied to take part in this “1st International String Quartet Competition”. Certainly the good name of the initiators, the married couple Susanne and Christoph Kessler and the association Klangerlebnis eV have with their series “quartettissimo!” made the spa town a sought-after address for top international quartets. A separate competition, financially supported by the city, the Free State and sponsors, was only logical. In the future it will take place every three years.
Started the preparations during the pandemic: the initiators of the competition Christoph and Susanne Kessler.
(Photo: Manfred Neubauer)
The Kesslers have now invited nine ensembles from the pool of applicants whose members are no older than 35 years. The public can enter the competition free of charge in the Kurhaus or live on the web follow: The main round is scheduled for April 16 with three time windows (10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., on April 17 the three finalists determined between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Then come the prizewinners’ concerts: April 18, third place; April 19, second place; April 20, first place, starts at 7:30 p.m.
1st International String Quartet Competition, Sunday, April 16th to Thursday, April 20th, Gabriel-von-Seidl-Konzertsaal im Kurhaus Bad Tölz, Ludwigstrasse 25, free tickets for the competition days and tickets for the prizewinners’ concerts the Tourist Information, Max-Höfler-Platz 1, Tel.: 08041 7867-15 and at Munich ticketsinfo below www.quartettissimo.de/competition-badtoelz-2023